Cream Cheese and Chive Biscuits

The most delightful addition to any meal are Martha Stewart's Cream Cheese and Chive Biscuits.  I discovered this recipe when a dear friend gave me Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook (it's orange, by the way). I call it my Martha Baking Bible (this is also where I got my Angel Food Cake Recipe).

These biscuits are a must have for any get together.  You can easily make them ahead of time and freeze them.  Once frozen, you can pull them out anytime and bake them just as you would on the day you made them.  You don't have to add any cooking time to the recipe.  I think this is great, because you can make several dozen and only eat a few at a time.  If you're like me and don't have a large family around to eat them, this is perfect.

Cream Cheese and Chive Biscuits

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 ¼ teaspoons salt
1 Tbs. granulated sugar
¼ cup finely chopped fresh chives
1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces
4 oz. cream cheese, cold, cut into small pieces
1 ¼ cup buttermilk

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, and chives. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter and cream cheese until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with a few larger clumps remaining. Pour in the buttermilk; using a fork, mix in buttermilk until incorporated and the dough just comes together. The dough will be slightly sticky; do not over mix.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. With floured fingers, gently knead about four times, until all the crumbs are incorporated and the dough is smooth. With a lightly floured rolling pin, gently roll the dough to a 8-by-11-inch rectangle, about 1 inch thick. Using a bench scraper or long offset spatula to lift the ends of the dough, fold the rectangle into thirds (like a business letter). Give the dough a quarter turn. Roll out the dough again (to the same dimensions), and repeat the folding process. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Return the dough to the work surface. Roll out as before, and repeat the folding process. Give the dough another quarter turn; roll out dough one more time, again into a rectangle about 1 inch thick. Using a sharp knife, divide the rectangle into 12 equal squares or rectangles. Place on prepared sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart. Refrigerate for 1 hour. (at this point you could also freeze the biscuits…to cook, simply put the frozen biscuits on a parchment lined sheet and proceed with baking)

Preheat the oven to 425° F. Bake, rotating the sheet halfway through, until the biscuits are golden and flecked with brown spots, 15 to 18 minutes. Transfer the biscuits to a wire rack to cool.

As with ALL of Martha Stewart's recipes, the directions are very 'wordy'.  It's actually really easy, don't over complicate it.  These are delicious.  Don't forget that you can always ask questions if you have any.  Enjoy!!